Network marketing method

ABSTRACT

A system and method for an online game that provides directed marketing and advertising to users playing the game. The game is designed to attract visitors to an Internet website and to retain their attention while a variety of advertisements are displayed, products are promoted, and prizes are awarded.

RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims priority to provisional patent application Ser.No. 60/633,787, which was filed on Dec. 7, 2004.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to a network marketing method and game, and whichprovides advertising and marketing information to players of the gameand which is designed to attract visitors to an Internet website, toretain their attention while a variety of advertisements are displayedand products are promoted, and to send the players to the websites ofthe companies/organizations who are marketing/promoting their goods andservices within the course of the game.

BACKGROUND

For major brand product companies, and any other company or organizationseeking to enhance brand exposure, reach and appeal, and seeking topromote the value of their offering, the Internet provides a vastenvironment to expose the population to various products, goods andservices.

The global information network known as the Internet provides aworld-wide medium for advertising. To demonstrate how vast andfar-reaching the Internet is, research from Pew Internet & American Lifeindicates that 77 percent of online Americans have used the Internet inconnection with the war in Iraq.(http://www.nua.ie/surveys/?f=VS&art_id=905358755&rel=true). Online jobhunting sites outstripped their newspaper classified counterparts by 3to 1 in the third quarter of 2004. Overall growth for the three biggestjob searching sites averaged 47.4 percent higher in the third quarterthan in the same time period in 2003. That growth compares to the 15.9percent year-over-year growth measured by newspaper classifieds in theNewspaper Association of America. In the U.S. alone this is a tremendousnumber of people to who can be exposed to online advertising andmarketing. Heavy Internet use is not limited to the U.S. In 1998, thenumber of Internet users in China was estimated at 1,750,000.(http://www.why-not.com/company/stats.htm).

According to the CNN MONEY website, the Internet is now the nation'sfastest-growing advertising medium, with sales expected to reach $9.4billion for 2004—up 16 percent from the Internet bubble days.Furthermore, Internet research firm eMarketer expects companies willnearly double their annual Web ad spending by 2008.(http://money.cnn.com/2004/11/15/technology/Internet_ads/index.htm).

Furthermore, the number of computer users playing Internet-based gameshas escalated immensely. Early in 2004, survey firm NielsenEntertainment shocked the broadcasting and advertising industries whenit announced that TV viewing by young males in 2003 was 6 percent lessthan it had been only a year previously. The reason for thisunprecedented decline is that console and PC gaming were stealing marketshare at rather mind-boggling rates. According to Nielsen, American menbetween 18 and 34 spent 30 billion hours in 2003 playing computer games.That's the same amount of time they spent watching TV, and it's thefirst time gaming tied with TV as a leisure activity. As a result ofthis trend, fewer and fewer people are tuning into TV programs on whichadvertisements are broadcasted.

To counteract these trends, many, if not most, of major consumer goodscorporations are following the viewers to where they're going now—onlineto play games. Jupiter Research reports the number of U.S. console andPC gamers will balloon to 40 million in 2004 alone, and by 2009 thatnumber will reach 62 million. Knowledge Networks/SRI found that gamesnow account for 15 percent of teen males' media intake; and an AOL Gamesstudy found a huge contingent (43 percent) of dedicated female gamers.

Internet gaming is one of, if not the single, fastest growing onlineactivity. Whereas 63.6 million people played online games over theInternet in 2001, this number is expected to grow to 73 million by endof year 2004. Advertising revenue for such games is expected to reachmore than $1 billion in 2005. In the last five years dating back to1999, interactive games have grown more rapidly than any other form ofentertainment. Interactive Internet Gaming's $6.5 billion in sales in2000 put it on par with movie box office receipts. Gamers span thespectrum of age, gender, race, and socio-economic demographics. Thegamer segment is growing 25% per year and surpassing total movie boxoffice revenues. Online gamers play an average of 13 hours per week,about the same amount as the average person watches television. Websitespromoting games are 8 of the top 10 entertainment sites on the Internet.The session length in gaming areas of portals average 4 times thegeneral site average, or 28 minutes.

To date, however, there is no medium that brings everything together inone tight, affordable, implementable format and which takes advantage ofthe web's enormous consumer marketing potential.

SUMMARY

The present invention contemplates a game that is played on the Internetor other networked system. The game combines features of the famoustrivia game show “Who Wants to be a Millionaire” and the long-livedshopping television game show “The Price Is Right”. Contestants areindividuals (generally of majority age) who are connected to theInternet and who “surf” to websites when connected to the Internet. For“contestants”, the game delivers the opportunity to participate in a bigmoney game show without having to jump through hoops, eat livecockroaches, or survive on a deserted island to qualify and win. Itrequires no special knowledge—only the ability to surf the web. Theinvention comprises an online game offering a cash pay out or other typeof award.

The game's methodology offers a unique opportunity for both gamerssurfing the Internet and retailers/marketers advertising on theInternet. Contestants are tasked with surfing the web, looking foranswers to questions about the marketer's products and services.Together the questions and their answers unite to deliver impactfulmarketing messages that drive home product value and benefits.

The above and other features of the invention, including various noveldetails of construction and combinations of parts, will now be moreparticularly described with reference to the accompanying drawings andpointed out in the claims. It will be understood that the particulardevice embodying the invention is shown by way of illustration only andnot as a limitation of the invention. The principles and features ofthis invention may be employed in various and numerous embodimentswithout departing from the scope of the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

These and other features, aspects, and advantages of the apparatus andmethods of the present invention will become better understood withregard to the following description, appended claims, and accompanyingdrawings where:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an Internet-based hardwareimplementation of the network marketing method of the present invention;

FIGS. 2A and 2B illustrate flowchart describing the steps in accordancewith the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an illustration of one view of an exemplary Internet websitevisited in accordance with the methodology of the present invention; and

FIG. 4 is an illustration of a second view of an exemplary Internetwebsite visited in accordance with the methodology of the presentinvention;

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present invention is directed to an interactive online system andmethodology that enables numerous users to be subjected to directedmarketing and advertising while engaged in a game. Throughout thisspecification, the terms “user(s)”, “contestant(s)”, and“participant(s)” are used interchangeably and are intended to refer tothe players of the game.

The game is stored on a computer server accessible via multiple usersfrom remote computers connected to the Internet or other private orpublic network. An example of an Internet-based hardware implementation10 of the present invention is shown in FIG. 1. As shown in the figure,a web server/host computer 14 and a plurality of remotely located clientcomputers 12, all connected over a computer network, such as via theInternet 16. Participants operating client computers 12 communicate withthe web server/host computer 14 of the game administrator, preferably byvisiting and interacting with the web site or designated networklocation located on the server. This process is typically initiated bythe participant typing, into his or her Internet web browser or othergraphical user interface (GUI), the Uniform Resource Locator (URL) ofthe server Web site. In response to receipt of this communication from aparticipant's browser, software operating in the server/host computer 14controls the server to send the browser the game's home page form, whichmay be a Hypertext Mark-up Language (HTML) document or a Flash®application (Macromedia, Inc., San Francisco, Calif.), having a menu ofoptions to be discussed below. An interactive session ensues, which willbe described in detail below with reference to a preferred embodiment.

The server/host computer 14 is programmed to format data, accessed fromlocal or remote databases or other sources of data, for presentation tothe participant, preferably in the format discussed in detail below. Theserver/host computer 14, although described herein in the singular, mayactually comprise plural computers cooperating to perform the functionsdescribed herein.

The server/host computer programming can utilize any conventional Webdata interface technique or techniques, such as Common Gateway Interface(CGI) protocol and associated applications (or “scripts”), or Java“servlets”, i.e., Java applications running on the Web server of Flash®application. It will be appreciated that the interactive forms to bediscussed below, which present forms for entry of information by theparticipants, and which save the entered information to a database, maybe implemented in any of several conventional ways, using known serverapplications. For example, in response to entry of the participant'sname and password, the server can redirect the information to a CGIapplication that is called when the participant clicks, for example, a“submit” icon. Access to databases, both local and remote, containingfor example game information or information as to current game results,also may be implemented, for example, by other CGI or similarapplications.

As will be understood, the game participant client computer connections18 to the Internet 16 can be facilitated by any one of a number ofdifferent connection types including, but not limited to, wireless,dial-up modem, DSL, ADSL, cable, T1, T3, etc. As will be understood, theconnection speeds vary greatly between, say, dial-up modems connected ata typical speed of 56 kbps, and a T1 connection with a speed of 1 Mbps.Furthermore, depending on the geographic location of the game clientcomputers 12 and the reliability of their local Internet serviceprovider (“ISP”), access to the Internet 16 and to the server/hostcomputer 14 can be interrupted, or very slow. While the server/hostcomputer 14 can be connected to the Internet 16 by a high speed networkconnection 20 to provide good server performance, the variability inconnection speed and reliability of the connections 18 between theremote game client computers 12 and the Internet 18 can make a game ofchance and speed such as bingo fundamentally unfair when played on theInternet.

It should be understood that participants at client computers 12generally input data and responses via a keyboard (not shown) or othercomputer input device.

FIGS. 2A and 2B graphically illustrate the steps in an exemplary processin accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. The game inaccordance with an embodiment of the present invention is played in tworounds: a first or qualifying round and the second or prize round.Although single or multiple rounds are contemplated by the invention.Preferably, anyone 18 years or older can register to compete in thequalifying round simply by visiting the game network location or websiteand signing up. It is contemplated that the age ranges for qualificationcan vary across the entire spectrum possible depending on variousfactors such as parental guidance, content of the contemplated websitesto be visited, desired marketing segmentation and others.

Generally, a participant will first visit the game website (step 100).At the website, the participant decides whether to commence play (step102). If the participant decides not to play, they generally exit thewebsite (step 104). Preferably, if a participant decides to play (step104) they are sent to a registration page which requires contestants toprovide statistically valuable demographic and/or personal informationthat will be used to further the value of the game to the sponsors (step108). This information can include, but is not limited to, personalidentifiers such as age and gender, geographic identifiers such as zipcode and other types of identifying information (step 110). Afterinputting the requested demographic information, the system may providethe participant with an ID and/or password (step 112) to be used at oneor more locations during the game and/or to gain access certain areas ofthe game website. A privacy policy may be provided at the website thatwill detail what uses the information may be put to, e.g., delivery ofsegment-specific content, statistical aggregations of data for marketresearch, and/or possible sale, and contestants must indicate theiracceptance of this policy in order to proceed with registration.

In the invention's preferred embodiment, a first or qualifying round isplayed over a pre-determined period of time during which time eachcontestant may play only once. In the preferred embodiment, contestantsplay the round in one single, uninterrupted web browser session. Thefastest contestants to complete the qualifying round will then competein the final round for the prize, which may be cash, products or otherawards. Cash and other prizes will also be available during thequalifying round. In the final round, all contestants race the clock andeach other to be the first to correctly answer all the questions and beproclaimed the winner.

The qualifying round is broadly depicted as steps 114-120 in FIG. 2A.The qualifying round is preferably made of 30 sets of clues andquestions, although the number may vary greatly depending on desiredcomplexity, time limitations, targeted contestants and other reasons. Tostart, contestants are given a clue to the identity of one of theparticipating brand sponsors. Answers are selected from a multiplechoice list. Contestants can try as many times as needed to identify thecorrect sponsor, but each incorrect answer will add time to their totalgame time.

For example, a sample clue would be the following:

-   -   “This toasted whole grain cereal can help reduce your        cholesterol:”.        Following the clue would be a list of possible answers such as:    -   Raisin Bran    -   Lucky Charms    -   Frosted Flakes    -   Cheerios    -   Grape Nuts

Once a contestant correctly selects “Cheerios” as the answer, he/she canreceive a Cheerios-related fill-in-the-blank question or other type ofquestion and a link to the Cheerios website. To answer theCheerio-related question, the contestant must go through the Cheerioswebsite (http://www.cheerios.com/) to find out some specific, brandreinforcing piece of information contained there. For example, a samplequestion might be something like:

-   -   “Cheerios is also an excellent source of ______ and a good        source of fiber.”

After reading the question, the contestant clicks on the link or URL(“uniform resource locator) (step 116). A new browser window then opensto a network location such as the homepage of the Cheerios website asillustrated in FIG. 3.

From this point, the contestant must navigate the Cheerios website untilhe/she locates the sentence that contains the answer to the posedquestion, such as illustrated in FIG. 4.

When the contestant finds the right answer, the contestant enters itinto the question form field on the game site (step 118) as follows:

-   -   “Cheerios is also an excellent source of folic acid and a good        source of f fiber.”

The computer system will then determine if the answer is correct bymatching it with the correct answers in its database (step 120). If theanswer is wrong, the contestant will be notified immediately and willneed to go back (step 122) and find the right answer.

Once the contestant has answered the question correctly, he/she willreceive the next clue. Clues and questions are then continuouslyprovided until the contestant has correctly answered all questions (step124)

At the end of the first round time period, the times of all contestantsare tallied. In one embodiment, the fastest times in a 24 hour periodadvance to the second or prize round (step 126). The invention is notlimited in this respect however, and other time periods can be utilized.Participants who do not meet the fastest time criteria do not advance tothe second or prize round (step 128). A consolation prize may beprovided to participants who do not advance to the second round.

The second or prize round is broadly depicted as steps 128-134 in FIG.2B. The prize round typically contains less questions than the firstround and by way of example herein contain eight questions, four fromeach of two websites. The participant with the fastest time incompleting the eight questions in the prize round wins the prize (steps136-140). The losers in the second round exit the game at step 142, andmay be awarded a consolation prize.

Preferably, the final round will not have clues. In one embodiment thefinal round will generally comprise questions only, and the questionswill be directed to charitable and non-profit organizations instead ofsponsoring brands. This will give the game added credibility and socialrelevance while allowing the game to help worthy causes spread theirmessage to the contestant base.

The game in accordance with the invention will bring unique users toeach sponsor's web site. Preferably, the sponsors pay the gamecoordinators for their presence in the game. Contestants will indulge inbrand reinforcement exercises through the clue part of the game and willdelve deeply into each sponsors' unique selling proposition on theirsearch for answers to the questions. As contestants search sponsorwebsites for answers, they also will encounter many additionalpromotions, topics, offerings, or messaging throughout the sponsorsites.

Ultimately, brands can use the question portion of the game in any waythey deem most valuable. Questions could be used, amongst other things,to enhance public relations campaigns intended to heighten perception ofthe brand's community involvement; promote the launch of a new productline; help distinguish the value proposition of an existing line;develop familiarity with web-based business processes used to initiate atransaction; and heighten contestant's awareness of current specialoffers, rebates, sales, etc.

Preferably, the final prize starts out at a predetermined set amount.This is the minimum the winner will be awarded. However, as more andmore contestants play the game and complete the full set of clues andquestions the prize will grow. Preferably, the actual prize amount willbe a designated percentage of the total per-click revenue or the initialset amount, whichever is greater. Although other known methods forawarding can be used such as product giveaways, coupons or giftcertificates and others. Also, other awarding schemes are contemplatedby the invention including a single grand prize, or other prizefinishes, or pay-to-play schemes to build the prize, or others.

The game website may also provide for online messaging. Messaging on thegame website will encourage registered contestants to bring theirfriends in to help drive up the prize. A counter will show what thepotential prize is if all contestants finish the whole game. The actualfinal prize amount will be announced at the completion of the firstround game period when the final round qualifiers are notified so allcontestants in the final round will know how much they are playing for.The number will also be posted on the website and included in pressreleases and promotions to encourage future game participation.

At the completion of each game, reports can be provided to sponsorsrelative to how quickly various demographic groups of participantsidentified them in the clue round and found the answers to thequestions. This valuable market research can provide keen insight intobrand penetration and site usability.

To help prevent cheating and to provide greater opportunity for sponsorsto assess the effectiveness of their websites and messaging, it ispreferred that each participating brand will have a minimum number ofdifferent questions in play during the qualifying round; these differentquestions will be delivered proportionately but randomly to contestants.In this manner, two participants sitting side-by-side and playing at thesame time will receive different questions and will be directed tosponsors sites in different orders.

Throughout the course of the game there can be additional opportunitiesfor participants to win cash prizes and sponsor-supplied merchandise.This will help keep more contestants competing longer, visiting morewebsites and producing more value for sponsors. For example, the gameservers can be programmed to assign the n^(th) number person to hit acertain website as an “Instant Winner” of a prize. Every time someonehits an “Instant Win”, it can be announced on the Game website tomaintain excitement.

It is also contemplated that there will be opportunities forparticipants to answer “bonus questions”; answering a bonus questioncorrectly will earn the contestant some measure of time off his finaltime. This is intended as a preferred means of making the game more funand helping contestants feel they have a chance of making it to thefinal round, which will keep them in the game visiting more sponsorwebsites.

At the end of each game, the game servers can email to all contestants alist of coupons available from the sponsors. In one embodiment eachsponsor will be able to offer several coupons and contestants can choosethe one they prefer. In this way, sponsors generate immediate revenuepotentials and garner more valuable, free market research into whichdemographic groups preferred which coupon.

At times, sponsors can be offered the ability to deliversegment-specific questions based on demographics mined at registration.For example, Nike® might desire to have women find out something abouttheir women's sport shoes, and have men find out something about men'ssport shoes.

Not all questions must be of the fill-in-the-blank type. To add variety,interest and value to marketers some could be task based. So, forexample, a question might require a contestant to use a sponsors virtualcalculator for a mortgage calculation.

To give the game a more authentic feel and to create an additionalrevenue stream, the preliminary round of questions can be broken intosmaller groups of questions. In the breaks between Rounds 1 & 2, andbetween Rounds 2 & 3, “intermercials” (Internet commercials) can bebroadcast, which can also be targeted based on segmented demographics.

To help keep contestants returning for future rounds, in one embodimentof the game, an increase in prize money (such as $5,000) could beoffered to returning contestants for each previous game round they havecompleted.

At numerous points before, during and after the game play, contestantscan have opportunities to earn “chances” for a sweepstakes drawing thatcan occur periodically. Each sponsor site that a contestant visits mayearn him/her one chance at the sweepstakes drawing. Other exemplary waysto earn additional changes at the sweepstakes drawing might includerecruiting new participants to the game, guessing the winner, andreplying to coupon offers.

As an additional value-add to both marketers and non-profits, pastversions of the game can be archived. Contestants can use these archivedrounds to practice which will deliver additional users to the sponsorand organization sites at no charge.

While there has been shown and described what is considered to bepreferred embodiments of the invention, it will, of course, beunderstood that various modifications and changes in form or detailcould readily be made without departing from the spirit of theinvention. It is therefore intended that the invention be not limited tothe exact forms described and illustrated, but should be constructed tocover all modifications that may fall within the scope of the appendedclaims. The present invention was particularly conceived to utilize acomputer system to provide directed marketing and advertising to aparticular population having specific demographics. Using the systemclaimed herein provides a unique manner for doing so.

1. A method of marketing to a plurality of users connected to a network,comprising the steps of: a. providing a designated network location tobe visited by a plurality of users intending to participate in themethod; b. providing queries to the users that that subject the user toa variety of directed marketing and advertising and encourages the usersto locate responses to the queries by searching network locations foranswers to the queries; c. allowing the users to input responses to thequeries; and d. awarding a prize to the user who correctly answers theprovided queries in the fastest time.
 2. The method in accordance withclaim 1, further comprising the steps of: g. after the users visit thedesignated website in step a., requesting demographic information fromthe users intending to participate in the method; and h. providingqueries to the users that submitted demographic information, and thatsubjects the user to a variety of directed marketing.
 3. The method inaccordance with claim 1, wherein the proffered queries are provided tothe users in two rounds.
 4. The method in accordance with claim 3,wherein a first round consists of 30 sets of clues and questions.
 5. Themethod in accordance with claim 3, wherein the clues are provided withmultiple choice answers.
 6. The method in accordance with claim 4,wherein the questions are provided with a blank in which the user mustfill in the correct answer.
 7. The method in accordance with claim 4,wherein a predetermined number of users answering the 30 questions inthe fastest time within a predetermined time period proceed to thesecond of the two rounds.
 8. The method in accordance with claim 7,wherein the second round consists of eight questions.
 9. The method inaccordance with claim 8, wherein the user answering the eight questionsin the fastest time wins a prize.
 10. The method in accordance withclaim 9, wherein the prize is cash and/or merchandise.
 11. The method inaccordance with claim 4, wherein the network locations visited by theuser in the first round are network locations of brand sponsors and/orproduct manufacturers.
 12. The method in accordance with claim 8,wherein the network locations visited by the user in the second roundare network locations of charitable and not-for-profit organizations.13. The method in accordance with claim 1, wherein Internet commercialsare intermittently provided during the course of visiting the websites.14. The method in accordance with claim 1, wherein the queries providedto the users are selected from a pool of varied questions and arerandomly delivered to the users so as to prevent cheating.
 15. Themethod in accordance with claim 1, further comprising the step ofproviding to the users an ID and/or password to allow the users to gainaccess to certain areas of the designated network location.
 16. Acomputer network marketing system, comprising: a. providing a computernetwork; b. providing a screen display accessible via the computernetwork; c. providing directed marketing or advertising viewable on thescreen display; d. providing a set of clues and questions on the screendisplay via the computer network; e. encouraging a user of the networkto search other websites in order to find the answers to the clues andquestions; f. allowing the user to input via a keyboard the answer tothe provided questions and clues; g. comparing the user's inputtedanswers with the correct answers stored on the computer networkdetermine if they match; h. if the answers match, allowing the user toproceed through additional questions and clues until all questions andclues have been correctly answered; i. rewarding the user who correctlyanswers all the clues and questions in the fastest time.
 17. The systemin accordance with claim 16, wherein the clues and questions provided tothe users are selected from a pool of varied questions and are randomlydelivered to the users so as to prevent cheating.
 18. The system inaccordance with claim 16, wherein the clues and questions are providedto the users in two rounds.
 19. The system in accordance with claim 18,wherein a first round consists of 30 sets of clues and questions. 20.The method in accordance with claim 19, wherein the clues are providedwith multiple choice answers.
 21. The method in accordance with claim19, wherein the questions are provided with a blank in which the usermust fill in the correct answer.
 22. The method in accordance with claim19, wherein the user answering the 30 questions in the fastest timeproceeds to the second of the two rounds.
 23. The method in accordancewith claim 18, wherein the second round consists of eight questions. 24.The method in accordance with claim 23, wherein the user answering theeight questions in the fastest time wins a prize.
 25. The method inaccordance with claim 24, wherein the prize is cash and/or merchandise.26. The method in accordance with claim 19, wherein the websites visitedby the user in the first round are websites of brand sponsors and/orproduct manufacturers.
 27. The method in accordance with claim 23,wherein the websites visited by the user in the second round arewebsites of charitable and not-for-profit organizations.
 28. The methodin accordance with claim 16, wherein Internet commercials areintermittently provided during the course of visiting the websites. 29.A system for providing a directed marketing and advertising game to aplurality of participants, and each operating a participant terminaloperable to act as a client on a network, the system comprising: a hostcontroller, the host controller comprising a computer operable to act asa server on the network at one or more designated network locations, andto communicate with the participant terminals over the network; and datastorage accessible to the host controller, the data storage storinginformation relating to performance of the participants in game, as wellas a plurality of questions and clues that are provided to theparticipants during the game, the host controller being operable: (a) tosolicit and accept from each participant demographic information used tosubject the user to specific questions and clues relating to particularproducts; and (b) to provide to participants a directed group of cluesand questions based on the users inputted demographic information; (c)to receive answers to the questions and clues input by the participantsand compare them to the correct answer in a database stored on the hostcontroller; (d) to allow the participants to proceed with the game iftheir answers match those stored in the database, or to inform the usersthat their answers are incorrect and to try again for the correctanswers; and (e) awarding prizes to the users based on preset winingcriteria.
 30. The system in accordance with claim 29, wherein the cluesand questions provided to the participants are selected from a pool ofvaried questions and are randomly delivered to the participants so as toprevent cheating.
 31. The system in accordance with claim 29, whereinthe clues and questions are provided to the participants in two rounds.32. The system in accordance with claim 31, wherein a first roundconsists of 30 sets of clues and questions.
 33. The system in accordancewith claim 32, wherein the clues are provided with multiple choiceanswers.
 34. The system in accordance with claim 32, wherein thequestions are provided with a blank in which the user must fill in thecorrect answer.
 35. The system in accordance with claim 32, wherein theparticipant answering the 30 questions in the fastest time proceeds tothe second of the two rounds.
 36. The system in accordance with claim35, wherein the second round consists of eight questions.
 37. The systemin accordance with claim 36, wherein the user answering the eightquestions in the fastest time wins a prize.
 38. The system in accordancewith claim 37, wherein the prize is cash and/or merchandise.
 39. Thesystem in accordance with claim 32, wherein the designated networklocations visited by the participants in the first round are networklocations of brand sponsors and/or product manufacturers.
 40. The systemin accordance with claim 36, wherein the designated network locationsvisited by the participants in the second round are network locations ofcharitable and not-for-profit organizations.